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Battle of Bloody Mary's Requiem
Also known as the Fall of the First Steelmane Armada, the battle was fought between Kul Tiran and Steelmane forces in the winter of 580 L.C, in response to recent pirating attacks and raids on merchant and military vessels along the coast of the Eastern Kingdoms. The battle marked an early end of the original Steelmane Armada. Origin Following the death of Lord Tandrious' father at the hands of the Kul Tiran Navy during a raid on one of the Steelmane outposts, he had inherited a relatively small, yet powerful Armada constructed decades before his time, consisting of aging Lorderonian merchant vessels augmented with various types of armor plating, cannons and muskets. Being heavily inexperienced when it comes to naval operations, Tandrious relied on the abundance of family gold to buy himself experienced seamen to help run the Armada, with the intention of revenge as a driving force in his conquests. For several years afterwards, the Armada remained inactive and docked somewhere, or so thought the Alliance Navy, when in reality they had been training daily so that they might actually stand as a formidable opponent when the opportunity to retaliate came through. Finally, after believing his Armada to be nearly unstoppable, now the self proclaimed 'Lord-Admiral' Tandrious launched his fleet back into the open seas off the shores of the Eastern Kingdoms, praying on Alliance merchant vessels and smaller naval patrols near Boralus. Determined to make a name for himself, Captain Reynal Valorfist, a Kul Tiran Naval Officer, collected a small group of ships with the assistance of Sir Josef Johnson and Sir Berevius Smighthammer ''and began a three-month long manhunt for the Armada. Things only escalated further with the word that a Stormwindian Naval Officer was kidnapped and executed by Tandrious after a ransom was failed to be payed. Following several weeks, they silently preyed the Eastern Kingdom's shorelines to try and get a visual on the now rumored 'Ghost-Fleet', and just when they thought the trail was cold and gone, one of the look-outs spotted the outline of the Bloody Mary's Requiem on the horizon. They proceeded to stalk the Armada all the way to Kalimdor, off the coast of Desolace. Battle The first cannon was fired close to midnight by one of the Kul Tiran destroyers during a light storm, catching the Armada completely by surprise. A light scrimmage followed, cannons and muskets being fired off in volleys, hailing down upon either ships frames and seamen. Knowing that they wouldn't win a formal Naval engagement due to the sheer firepower built up against them, Tandrious ordered that his ships thread between the various rock formations to kill the Kul Tiran's line of sight, and ultimately giving them the edge during the engagement. Out of four Steelmane Armada vessels, one was sunk within the first hour, a stray cannon ball smashing through the upper deck, knocking several lanterns over causing a fire which ignited the gunpowder and explosives, ultimately cracking the hull nearly into two. However, things weren't going according to plan for the Kul Tiran fleet, either. Out of eight ships, five remain, one being sunk due to running aground on a shallow reef, and the other two having their hulls blown open from the suicide-divers Tandrious had ordered into the unforgiving sea. Ultimately, the two parties agreed to a twenty-four hour ceasefire to assess the damages and try to rescue the survivors from the other ships. As midnight dawned upon the two fleets the next day, it was the Armada's mothership, The Bloody Mary's Requiem, which fired the first shot to reignite the battle. Within the first three hours of the battle, it was evident that Tandrious wouldn't win the day, so out of desperation he had ordered one of the three remaining vessels to be abandoned after loaded with barrels of explosives, minus a single martyr-to-be, to be used as a battering-ram. The ship was partially sunk before colliding with the fifth Kul Tiran destroyer, which was knocked off course and colliding with a second Destroyer before the three ships went up in flames, then into pieces as the explosive barrels set off, absolutely decimating the Kul Tiran fleet's morale, putting their offense to a stand-still, and killing one of Valorfist's friends and colleague, Smighthammer, in the process. Using the last three ships he had, Valorfist ordered them into a ''V formation before sailing at full speed towards the Requiem''' and the final Steelmane destroyer, launching a volley of cannon and musket balls down upon the either crew and hull. After losing half of his crew, Lord Tandrious ordered the men aboard both ships to abandon posts, and make an attempt to bring the battle on land. He was forced to watch the Bloody Mary's Requiem 'crumble under the Kul Tiran offensive, and eventually partially sink in the shallow cove-water. The destroyer, after being set ablaze by annoyed Kul Tiran seamen, was used for target-practice. Ironically, one of the last three Kul Tiran vessels, already heavily damaged, was sunk when it collided with a stray explosive barrel which was knocked overboard when the Requiem was sunk. Sir Johnson was below the deck, inspecting the damages and planning on repairs when the ship hit the barrel, and he, along with many others, were killed instantly. Now enraged, Captain Valorfist placed landing-boats into the water, loaded them with Marines and other seamen and followed the retreating Steelmane forces onto the land, where a very brief, twenty-minute battle took place. Outcome The two parties, Marines consisting of 32 soldiers, and the Steelmane's forces consisting of 37, fought tooth-and-nail on the beach using waterlogged muskets as clubs and wooden-crates as blunt objects. Ultimately, the Kul Tiran forces succeeded in silencing the Steelmane seamen, reducing the number down 24 survivors while they, themselves came out with 9. Those whom were injured were hauled back to the naval ships for medical treatment and taken into custody, while the others whom could walk ran inland to escape justice. It was noted in Captain Valorfist's journal that the infamous '''Lord-Admiral' Tandrious von Steelmane wasn't present at the beach-battle himself, and it is assumed he slipped away by himself using the night as his cover. The Battle of Bloody Mary's Requiem was over, coming with heavier-than-expected casualties from both sides, and with the total destruction of the thought to be invincible Steelmane Armada. After spending several weeks salvaging the shores and ocean floors for spare wood to be used as repairs, the two damaged Kul Tiran destroyers sailed back into the Port of Boralus, and the few Steelmane prisoners were either given life sentences, or strung up and hung at the gate of the harbor as warning to future seafaring criminals. Sir Josef Johnson and Sir Berevius Smighthammer were recognized as national Kul Tiran heroes while Captain Valorfist was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and awarded his own fleet, naming it," The Southern Raiders. " Category:The Steelmane Gang Category:Kul Tiras Navy Category:Events